On April 23, faculty, staff, students and families convened in the Wiekamp auditorium to celebrate the annual Student Writing Awards. After congratulating the student winners, unveiling the 2026 “Graduate Journal” and “Analecta” and discussing the English department’s student and faculty accomplishments, guest writer and award judge Jonathan Johnson gave a reading from his latest poetry book, “Pine,” and stuck around for questions and a signing.
Emceed by Dr. Shawn Nichols-Boyle, the event began with recognition of the English department’s Dean’s List students and winners of the First Year Writing Awards. Next, the Gerald T. Bryant Bicentennial English Scholarship award winners were announced, including undergraduates Spud Citter, Paulina Diaz Solano, Cal Emery, Jack Komasinski, Vic Rice and Sydney Smous.
REED THE ROOM. LaDaja Reed accepts her First Year Writing Award from English Department Chair Dr. Elaine Roth. Reed won first place for her essay titled “Success, Rewritten.”
Graduate students Annamarie Kovalenko and Matisse Giddings were also awarded scholarships: the Lester Wolfson Poetry Prize and the Eileen T. Bender Scholarship, respectively.
Students then received writing awards for the categories of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, divided by undergraduate or graduate level. The winning pieces were submitted to “Analecta” and moved through multiple rounds of anonymous selection before being presented to guest judge Jonathan Johnson, who determined the final placements. Winners also received a signed copy of his new book.
Check out the list of winners in the table, and pick up a free copy of “Analecta” from Wiekamp or the Schurz Library to read the winning pieces.
Following the awards, “Analecta” and this year’s “Graduate Journal” were introduced by their respective editors, Aubren Kubicki and Brooke Kertai.
Kubicki discussed their editing process and expressed gratitude for students who submitted, even those who were not accepted. Kubicki explained that they took a unique approach to organizing the journal, treating it like a true “body” of work and dividing the pieces into sections called the “Head,” “Heart,” “Guts” and “Limbs.”
Dr. Kelcey Ervick, Pub Hub director, then gave a year in review for the English department and Pub Hub, showcasing student chapbooks, research projects, the English department’s blog, “The Deadline” and fun activities like the department’s bowling night and cocoa and collage event. On April 20, Ervick was also awarded a highly competitive Indiana University Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year.
DEAN’S LIST. English majors on the Spring 2026 Dean’s List pose for a photo with their certificates at the Student Writing Awards.
Finally, IU South Bend resident poet and professor David Dodd Lee introduced visiting poet Jonathan Johnson, who read from his collections “May Is an Island” and “Pine.” Originally from Marquette, Michigan, Johnson has published multiple books of poetry, memoirs and short stories. He currently teaches in a Master of Fine Arts program at Eastern Washington University.
His work has also been published in “The Glacier,” IU South Bend’s online literary journal edited by Lee.
During a question-and-answer session, Johnson praised IU South Bend’s English department and student publications.
“The work I read was thunderstriking,” Johnson said. “I could not believe it. I’m seriously blown away by what you all wrote.”
Johnson said when he opened the portfolio of student works to judge, he was sure he found the winner on the first page, but found each subsequent work just as excellent.
“I don’t know of any program in the country even close to what you can do here,” he said.
